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him.
"Are you feeling all right?" he asked unexpectedly. "This production isn't putting you at risk?"
She smiled. "It's actually doing me a lot of good. I get my daily exercise, I have no time to sit
around and brood about what might go wrong, and I'm doing exactly what my doctor says to do
the rest of the time. I'm fine."
"I'll make sure of that, from now on," he said with dogged determination. "I'm going to be your
shadow."
"I'm fine," she insisted. "Listen, Cul, I'm perfectly capable of looking out for myself and the
baby. I'm not your responsibility."
"You are," he returned.
"I'm not asking for anything. I told you last night, I don't feel that way about you anymore,
Cul."
His expression was shocked, but he averted his face so that she couldn't see it. "You'll never
forget what I said to you when you told me, will you?" he asked quietly.
"It was pretty rough," she confessed. Her eyes had a faraway look in their dark depths as she
folded her hands in her lap and stared out at the city lights. "I was so excited," she recalled, her
smile wistful.
"It seemed like the end of the rainbow. And then you wouldn't even listen to me. I think that
hurt most of all. Now, of course, I can understand why you didn't believe me. But it doesn't
matter anymore."
"You're sure that Hadison doesn't want to marry you?" he asked hesitantly.
"I'm sure." She grinned. "I think he'll eventually marry Janet, actually. They'll make a good
couple, too."
' 'Then what about the baby? " ,
"I'll take good care of her. Why should I share her?"
"She needs a father," he argued curtly. "Someone to screen her boyfriends when she's older
and comfort her when she cries in the night."
"I can do all that," Bett assured him.
"Not like a father could!"
She pretended to think about that. "I'll let Mr. Bartholomew screen them." "He'll be dead by
then!"
"Don't shout, Cul, what will my neighbors think?" she protested. They were parked just below
her apartment window, and Cul's face was red with bottled-up fury.
"You could marry me," he said. "We could both raise her."
"No, thank you," she replied politely.
"She's my child!" he burst out.
She looked him straight in the eye. "No," she said coldly. "You won't get around me that way,
by pretending to believe me at this late date.
You won't convince me that you've had such a sudden change of heart."
"But I have," he began.
"I'm very tired, Cul," she said wearily, "and I don't feel up to any arguments tonight. Thanks
for bringing me home."
He got out of the car and went around to open her door, his face taut with indecision, his eyes
dark with mingled hunger and frustration.
She took the hand he extended, feeling a pleasant tingle at its warm strength as he helped her
out onto the sidewalk. He didn't let it go, either, retaining it even after he locked the door and
walked her up to her apartment.
"I'd feel better about it if you'd move in with me," he said as he left her at her door. "Even if
you won't marry me, you'd be safe."
"Protected, no doubt, by your legion of lady lovers?"
"I don't have any lovers, Bett," he replied, his voice deep and soft.
"And the pope isn't Catholic," she agreed.
"Now who's lacking trust?" he queried.
"I've been getting lessons." She unlocked her door and stared down at 1
the rusty doorknob. "Thanks again for seeing me home. '
He touched her shoulder lightly. He turned her around, pulled her gently against his tall, strong
body and looked down into her wide, dark eyes.
"I'm going to take care of you, Bett. Even if you fight me every step of the way."
"Cul..."
"Shhhh," he whispered gently, bending so that she could taste the minty scent of his breath on
her parted Eps. "Sleep tight, darling."
He made the endearment sound genuine. And she didn't protest when he laid his warm, firm
mouth over bers and gently nibbled at it. It was so sweet, that tenderness from him, that giving.
Always before, even when he was the most gentle, he was still taking, not giving. This was
different.
He lifted his head a breath later and touched his fingers to her cheek.
"Good night, Elisabet."
"Good night."
She watched him walk away with tears in her eyes. Oh, Cul, she thought miserably, why are you
pretending to believe me now, when you were so determined not to believe me in the beginning?
How can I ever trust you again?
He seemed to sense her eyes on his back, because he suddenly turned and looked at her across
the distance. And he smiled, slowly, and lifted his hand before he turned the corner. She turned
slowly and went into the apartment, her mind full of questions.
Ten
You don't really believe he's had a change of heart, do you?" Janet asked Bett the next
morning-as they had coffee together in the little deli down the street from Bett's apartment.
"No," Bett confessed. "I think he just wants the baby. You know how wild he's always been
about children. Since no other man has jumped in to claim it, he's going to."
Janet stared into her black coffee. "Don't let him cut you up a second time," she said gently.
"Don't worry, he won't get close enough for that." Ben stirred cream into her own coffee. "You
know, it's odd, but I learned more about him last night than I've ever known. He actually talked
to me. And it made me realize that he never had before. Even when we were so involved with
each other."
"Well, with any luck at all, he'll at least live up to his responsibilities. Imagine him thinking it
was David's baby!"
Bett lifted her eyes and studied her friend. "It isn't, you know," she said levelly. "David is my
friend. He's never been anything else, so you can stop worrying yourself to death about it."
Janet blushed wildly. "Oh, Bett, I didn't mean...!"
Bett actually laughed. "You silly twit," she accused. "You know I've been crazy about Cul for
years. Not even for revenge could I sleep with someone else."
"I knew that, deep down. I guess I just wanted to hear you say it,"
Janet confessed.
"So now I have. Okay?" She shook her head and leaned back in her chair.
"Oh, Janet, what am I going to do with.. .oof!" She put a hand to her stomach and caught her
breath, looking dazed.
"What's wrong?" Janet asked quickly.
"The baby kicked," she said breathlessly, laughing with tears in her eyes. "Oh, my!"
"For heaven's sake!" Janet was mystified.
"They move around, you know. You really start to feel them about four and a half months." She
sighed as she smoothed her hand over the soft mound. "Imagine. I'm really going to be a
mother. Of all the incredible things..."
"Speaking of incredible things, don't look now, but here comes trouble."
Bett turned to see Cul searching the deli for her. He found her and moved quickly toward them,
a tall, formidable figure in a blue pinstriped suit.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, taking a seat beside Bett.
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